Day 6 - Chhomrong to Deurali

 “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Today Donna and I would find what lies within us. We start the day early, 6:30AM, as we always do and caught the sun rising on Annapurna south.

Sunrise on Annapurna South

The day was sunny and warm, not to hot, which made it great for trekking. From our hotel the trail goes, first through town, then heads down about 1300ft (395m) in 1 mile (1.6Km) to the Chhomrong Khola (The term "khola" means, in local (Nepali) language, river). Spanning the river is a short suspension bridge which Donna crosses with much more confidence.

Suspension Bridge crossing Chhomrong Khola

Continuing on, the trail gradually slopes up and we can look back and get some wonderful views of the morning sun rising on Chhomrong.

Going up

Village of Chhomrong

Entering the Annapurna Sanctuary

We patiently make our way on the trail as it crests along the ridge terracing the gorge. By 8:45 we stop at a small town, Sinuwa, for some refreshments. Donna gets her standard can of juice and I get my usual milk tea. The views from this vantage point are prodigious! While relaxing we greet many other trekkers who are doing the same. Some are heading up to ABC and others returning. This time also gives us a chance to remove some of our layer as it’s starting to get pretty warm.

Donna and her can of juice

Some peace from Nepal

Rested up we gear up and hit the trail. Of course the trail heads down and transitions into a beautiful bamboo forest. Inside we are only able to catch brief glimpse of fish tail.

The gorge leading to ABC

Fish Tail

I think he wants to go with us

Sheep in Bamboo

The bamboo forest is beautiful, rivaling the rhododendron forest we hiked through yesterday. By 10:30 we stop at, where else, town of Bamboo for lunch. After filling our bellies we pack and tramp up the trail.

Town of Bamboo

  

Fish Tail

As we march along around every turn I am waiting to see our destination the village of Deurali (elevation 10,500 ft, 3200m). With each hill we climb I get more and more tied and anxiously long to view our end point. What’s on top of this hill, another hill, nothing but another hill to climb. By now I am way in front of Donna who I lost sight of. Growing more tired I’m concerned how Donna is doing but, feel OK that she is with Govinda. Finally I see my destination and I arrive at about 3PM.

Deurali

Our Lodge in Deurali

I wait for about an hour and a half, maybe longer, before Donna and Govinda come up the trail. Donna softly said “I’m finished, I can’t go on, I’ll wait here for you until you return from ABC”. I just say lets rest, eat, sleep and see how things are in the morning. So we change into our sleeping cloth and sit in the common area for a while. Both Donna and I are extremely tired so off to bed by 6. Today’s hike turned out to be a very long and difficult one for both of us. We’ll wait to see how we feel in the morning to decide what our next step will be.

“If you aren’t in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?”

Today’s hiking totals, 8.5 hrs. Tom, 10 hrs. Donna, 12.5 miles (20Km). Actual total ascent and descent was 7400ft (2255m) and 4500ft (1372m). That's a lot of up and down!!!

Brother and Sister



Interesting Sign

Love and Peace D&T